LDC DEBT: THE ROLE OF THE INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND

For a combination of reasons that differ among countries, many developing countries' foreign debt service obligations have become difficult to meet. The size of the problem in 1982 raised concern over the stability of the banking system. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) provided the forum through which the international community's strategy for meeting this concern has evolved. The IMF also played, and continues to play, an active role in helping to finance the structural and balance-of-payments adjustments needed in countries with debt service problems. The IMF's involvement is an integral part of the broader strategy, which builds on the cooperation of debtors and creditors, on a case-by-case basis. The objective is to share the burden in a balanced way. Obtaining adequate adjustment in deficit countries is central to the strategy, but the Baker Plan increased the emphasis on restoring longer-term growth through more far-reaching structural adjustments supported by longer-term financing. The IMF has modified and enhanced some of its lending facilities in light of this emphasis. However, though the short-term nature of its lending was critical in averting a possible banking crisis during 1982 and 1983, it diminishes somewhat the IMF's role in financing the more protracted adjustments now required.     

INTERNATIONAL DEVIATIONS FROM THE LAW OF ONE PRICE: THE ROLE OF SEARCH FRICTIONS AND MARKET SHARE*

This article examines the size and persistence of international deviations from the law of one price in an industry with search frictions. Cost differences lead foreign and domestic firms to price differently within countries. When local firms are more common in each country, there are large and persistent price differences across countries. Large and persistent changes in international relative costs lead to large and persistent changes in international relative prices. Dynamic considerations imply that the amount of a cost shock firms pass through to prices is U‐shaped in the market share of firms receiving the shock.     

THE FUTURE ROLE OF THE LAW

1. All individual labour relations disputes arising out of breach of contract of employment including unfair dismissal should be capable of being settled by the relatively rapid, inexpensive and informal procedures of the industrial tribunals with further appeal on points of law; 2. The minimum condition of legal recognition for the closed shop should be the effective strengthening in law of protection for the individual union member or prospective member, subject to discretion concerning ‘disruptists7rsquo; 3. In the central area of collective labour relations, the following policy suggestions are made: a) criminal or civil sanctions against individual employees are impractical and best forgotten. Sanctions can only be realistically considered in relation to leaders and organisations; b) the objective for a rational law of strike action (or other forms of direct action) should be limited if it is to be realistic, i.e., not the chopping down of managerial or trade union or shop floor power but insistence on a reasonable degree of orderliness and time for second thoughts in the run up to direct action; c) it is an ancient truth that only fair and reasonable laws will command respect. Disputes procedures are a kind of quasi-law. To command respect and to justify sanctions for its breach, a disputes procedure should be independently certificated as fair and reasonable in accordance with modern labour relations standards. The C.I.R. is at present the obvious body in which to vest this certificating power; d) where adequate procedures and principles are provided by the law to deal with an identified class of industrial dispute, the use of private power, including private collective power, to impose a solution should be legally discouraged.     

当前国际环境形势下中国的国际贸易对策

随着环境问题的国际化和普遍联系性特点的相互结合,国际环境形势出现了环境活动的主体性、环境行动的合作性、环境总理２的对立性和环境关系的复杂性等特点,在这种国际环境形势下,一方面环境问题越来越多地渗透到国际贸易中来,另一方面发达国家依例其环保管理入技术上的优势,趁机对发展中国家设置绿色壁垒并衽倾销,从而使中国和其他所有发展中国家的国际贸易面临严峻的环境挑战,对此,中国应该积极采取相应对策,包括开展环境     

THE SENSITIVITY OF INTERNATIONAL POVERTY COMPARISONS

Using data from the Luxembourg Income Study, I study the sensitivity of cross-national income poverty comparisons to the method in which poverty is measured. Absolute poverty comparisons that keep the purchasing power at the poverty line constant across countries lead to conclusions that differ from relative poverty comparisons in which the real value of the poverty line varies with average income. The absolute poverty ranking of countries also varies as the real value of the poverty line is lowered. Cross-national differences in household characteristics are largely irrelevant in explaining poverty differences.     

THE ROLE OF THE GOLD STANDARD IN THE GIBSON PARADOX

Recent papers by Lee and Petruzzi (1986) and Barsky and Summers (1988) provide rival theories of how the Gibson Paradox could result from the impact of changes in the interest rate on the real price of gold. This paper empirically tests each model and finds more support for the Lee-Petruzzi approach than the Barsky-Summers approach. The paper also suggests that Lee and Petruzzi may have used an inappropriate method to test their model, and that both papers employed inappropriate sample periods.     

THE ROLE OF FINANCIAL CAPITAL IN PRODUCTION

It is increasingly acknowledged that the financial structure of a firm is an important determinant of its production costs. This paper argues that the use of a firm's liabilities should be seen as a separate input in the production process. At the same time, the input of non-financial assets is limited to the value that is used up during the reference period. The paper elaborates on these ideas and shows their use in empirical work. It is concluded that the approach set out in this paper establishes a much closer relationship of general economic accounting and analysis to business economics.